ASEAN-Australia Relations: Working Out Hard Issues for Regional Stability

Picture: William West / AFP

In an article by Fulcrum, William Choong and Sharon Seah write the development of the ASEAN-Australia relationship in the last 50 years, and highlight the potential rebalancing of ties amid polycrisis.

To ASEAN, the rationale is clear: such U.S.-led minilaterals could undermine its centrality and any cooperation with these minilaterals would rile China. While the AMS cannot wish away minilaterals, they can nevertheless leverage these arrangements to their national benefit and regional stability. 

There is a sweet spot here. After years of testy relations with Beijing, Australia is rebalancing its relationship with China, taking a more pragmatic turn towards trade normalisation. This would lead to greater regional stability, which ASEAN appreciates. However, Canberra and its formal allies — in particular, the U.S. and Japan — want to continue to manage the more assertive aspects of China’s regional behaviour. There is simultaneously a desire on the part of some AMS (read: Vietnam and the Philippines) to stand up more to China on matters of sovereignty amid territorial disputes, especially in the South China Sea (SCS).